Epona's Whisper
by Icy Cake
Summary: Having the ability to speak to animals, Link had always wanted to hear the voice of his close friend, Epona. Slight spoilers!


The last note lingered in the winds as a breeze carried the song throughout the rocky cliffs of the village. He waited; twitching his ears in every direction until he heard the familiar pounding of hooves approaching.

Smiling inside, he sat on his haunches to show his oncoming friend that he meant no harm. A roan coloured mare galloped into view, stopping dead in her tracks when she saw the figure who called her.

"Beast!" she snorted as she backed away from the other. "What have you done with my Master?!" She stomped her foot and scraped it into the dirt, ready to charge.

It was the first time Link had ever heard her speak. Though he had imagined what Epona would have sounded like, he had never expected her tone to be soft yet strong in vibrant anger.

Link would have grinned at her reaction, but the thought of baring his sharp teeth at his dear friend would certainly frighten her. Or worse, cause her to think wrong and make her trample him.

"Epona," he began, surprising the horse. The emotions of an animal were once hard to notice for Link, but having grown to love the fact that he could interact with them, speaking to an animal was the same as speaking to a person. And the expression Epona showed was completely priceless. He laughed, but it came out more of a rasp. "Don't you recognize me?"

The horse blinked before narrowing her eyes at the wolf before her as she looked him over. "You… You are…?" she slowly asked, taking a careful step closer.

Link did not move from his spot. Instead, he allowed Epona the time to relax so she would be able to figure it out.

She sniffed the air when she was a few feet away and suddenly neighed. "Link! It's you, isn't it?!" she cried, nudging his nose with hers.

He let out a happy whine and slightly nodded. "Are you surprised?"

"Of course!" she replied, looking from him to his companion riding his back. "Why are you in that form and… who is that on your back?"

The wolf was about to answer, but a tug on his fur brought his attention to his rider. "Hey, Link! Can we _go_ already?" Midna sighed, obviously bored.

Link could only give her a short growl in response and she patted his head. "All right, let's go!" she hollered, waiting for him to move.

The wolf looked up at his animal friend. "It's a long story, Epona," he answered her previous question. "This is Midna, by the way."

Epona glanced at the twilight imp and said 'hello'. But when no response came from the short rider, she asked, "Does she hear a word we say?"

"Are we going to Snowpeak or not?" Midna growled impatiently.

"Apparently, not," Link answered Epona, grinning with his teeth.

The mare seemed to smile. She nipped his ears playfully and let out a jealous whine. "You're not going without me, are you? But seeing that you don't need to ride me…"

Letting out another raspy laugh, the wolf rose to all fours and stared up at the great beast. "Epona, my friend, why did you think I called you here?" he questioned.

The horse appeared to smile with glee and nudged her snout against his. "Hurry and return to normal! I wish to trample those fiends in the field again!"

Link brightened at her excitement, now knowing that the mare actually enjoyed being by his side in battle. He didn't need to worry about traveling across the expanse of Hyrule Field any more. Not with his loyal companion and close friend.

"Let's race to the outskirts of the village first," the wolf challenged, wanting to see if his wolf body could outrace the great animal.

Epona whined and reared on her hind legs to face the dirt road leading out. "You're on!"

They both began with a dash of speed. Midna, being clueless of what the two were doing, almost fell off Link's back. "_Warn_ me when you do that!" she hissed in the wolf's ear as she held tightly to his fur.

Link had loved doing that; tossing Midna around as he ran annoyed her a lot. It was just to tease the imp for it was fun to torment her in such a way.

Dust trailed behind the two animals as they ran down the path. Link glanced sideways at his companion, smirking internally at the boldness the mare showed.

Ever since his first encounter with another animal as a wolf, Link had wanted to speak to her; to hear her voice, to listen to her words. And now, he could.

"Eat my dust, Link!" she yelled in delight as she galloped past him and into the field to victory.

Smiling internally, Link huffed at the mare's neigh of triumph and trotted to her side. "Lucky," he scoffed, panting with his tongue sticking out.

"It just goes to show that _wolves_ aren't faster than me," she taunted, nipping his ears again. "Now, shall we?"

"Yeah, yeah, just a second," Link replied before turning to his rider to let out a whine.

Midna, appearing a bit frazzled from the race but nonetheless, annoyed. "What?" she demanded, crossing her arms. "You want to turn to human? We could just warp to Zora's Domain."

Link whined again, shaking his head slightly. The imp groaned then sighed. "Fine," she muttered, rolling her one visible eye. She rose from his back to revert the curse.

Before she did, Epona snorted at her master, "Why do you allow her to ride you?"

The wolf could not answer but instead formed a quick grin before the darkness of twilight surrounded him.

"I'll tell you next time," Link whispered in her ear before climbing on her saddle.

-0-

A/N: I _had_ to write this for it was stuck in my head ever since playing through Twilight Princess. I hoped you all enjoyed it!


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